Guest Editorial: Global Warming and Population Health

Abstract

Since the industrial revolution, the contribution of anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gases to the global environment has significantly increased. Greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), are accumulating in the atmosphere. These trends are largely attributed to human activities, primarily fossil-fuel combustion, some industrial processes, for example cement production and mining, changes in land use, and agricultural practices. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), made up of more than 2,500 of the world's leading scientists, has recently concluded that human activity might have already begun to change the global climate, and in the absence of efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, the concentrations of these gases are expected to increase significantly throughout the next century (IPCC, 1996).